DOES GOD EXIST? TODAY

February 4, 2026January 31, 2026

Ancestors of Modern Humans

The history of attempts to develop an evolutionary explanation for modern humans is filled with errors and assumptions. Some foot bones found in 2009 in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, along with other bones discovered since then, have led to the naming of a new “species,” Australopithecus deyiremeda. The Afar Region is also where the fossil known as “Lucy” was discovered, and these fossils have been celebrated as ancestors of modern humans.

The first problem with this type of report is that the word “species” is used very loosely. What exactly does “species” mean? When I took biology classes, species was defined as “a form of life that can breed and produce fertile offspring.” A dog and a cat are different species because they cannot breed to produce fertile offspring. Most of us remember the biological fact that a horse and a donkey can breed and produce a mule, but the mule is sterile because horses and donkeys are different species.

Today, we have two ape forms considered to be different species. The evidence includes a few foot bones, fragments of pelvis, skull, jaw, and teeth—not a complete skeleton. Because these bones were found in close proximity, researchers assumed they must belong to the same species, not to Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis. Since these supposedly show a progression among the ancestors of modern humans, how much variation do we see in humans and apes today?

The name Australopithecus literally means “the ape from the south.” These are not humans but apes. None of this has any connection to the biblical account of God’s creation of humans. The statement in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image…” does not refer to God’s physical image. God is a spirit (John 4:24). Genesis 2:7 describes man’s physical creation from “the dust of the earth.” The Bible does not tell us what that man looked like, how he was made, or how long it took.

Biblical critics and believers alike should not be concerned about the latest discovery by anthropologists claiming to be the ancestors of modern humans. Like all human endeavors, anthropology is fraught with errors and assumptions. Humans are unique as the only beings created in God’s image, a fact that anthropology does not address.

Reference: Science News February 2026, page 13

February 3, 2026January 31, 2026

Habitable Worlds Observatory

In a quest to detect life on a planet outside of our solar system, NASA has awarded three-year contracts to seven different companies to address the engineering challenges of a new precision space telescope. Since 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope has been capturing images of the universe in infrared light. Prior to that, the Hubble Space Telescope provided us with a deeper understanding of the secrets of space in the visible-light spectrum. The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is designed to pursue a different goal.

The HWO will be NASA’s most powerful space telescope, aiming to find signs of life in the universe. It will analyze light passing through the atmospheres of distant planets orbiting stars hundreds or even thousands of light-years away. Doing this will require a coronagraph thousands of times more powerful than any built before. A coronagraph is an instrument that blocks out the light from the Sun or other stars to reveal the faint atmospheres of exoplanets. It must also be repairable in space if any stray micrometeoroids impact its surface. The optical system must be stable within the width of a single atom. The precision required for the Habitable Worlds Observatory telescope surpasses any current technology.

This telescope must be far more advanced than the Webb Space Telescope, and you may recall the challenges and costs associated with that project. The goal is to have the Habitable Worlds Observatory ready for launch by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Jared Isaacman, the NASA administrator, stated that this is “exactly the kind of bold, forward-leaning science that only NASA can undertake.”

If the project succeeds in demonstrating that life could potentially exist on a planet outside our solar system, what then? If the planet is thousands of light-years away, we would be observing what it was like thousands of years ago. It will also take that long for us to beam a message to it, and if there are intelligent beings there, it will take an equal amount of time for them to respond. Traveling to such a planet would take humans many times longer, since it’s impossible to travel faster than a small fraction of light speed. Furthermore, even if we see signs that life could exist on a distant planet, we still won’t know for sure if life actually does.

One thing we can be certain of is that the project will take a lot of time and cost a lot of money. However, Isaacman says, “We intend to move with urgency.” In other words, there is an “urgent” desire to find out if there is life or any sentient beings beyond our planet. The truth is, there is a Being out there who has communicated with us, and He has even come to our planet to show us how to live and to redeem us from our sins. Perhaps the greatest urgency is for us to communicate with and come into a right relationship with Him.

References: space.com and youtube.com

February 2, 2026January 31, 2026

Controlling the Sun

The Sun has been very active lately, with sunspots and solar flares, causing auroras to be visible farther south in the Northern Hemisphere. People have enjoyed seeing the colors of the Aurora Borealis, but engineers and scientists are worried about potential effects on satellites and power grids. As we approach the peak of the 11-year solar activity cycle, some are concerned about controlling the Sun.

The truth is that our Sun’s radiation bursts are 10 to 100 times weaker than what scientists have observed from similar stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Why is it that planets we have detected orbiting other sun-like stars might be exposed to deadly radiation that we are protected from? One study by scientists at the German laboratory Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf suggests that Venus, Earth, and Jupiter may be partially responsible for controlling the Sun.

The Sun is most active when its magnetic field is strongest, and the idea is that the gravitational pull of Venus, Earth, and Jupiter creates a tidal force that affects the Sun’s magnetic field. The Sun’s magnetic dynamo generates its magnetic field, while the subtle gravity of these three planets may produce a tidal effect. This may make the Sun’s activity “much more benign than that of other sun-like stars,” according to physicist Frank Stefani and his colleagues.

We’ve often said that many factors need to be just right for our planet to support life. This may be another factor to consider. The research team noted that every 11 years, the tidal forces of these three planets align in a way that could influence the Sun’s magnetic dynamo. They admit there are still “missing pieces in our synchronizing jigsaw,” so more research is needed before definitively claiming that these planets are a factor in controlling the Sun. Nevertheless, the fact that our Sun’s radiation eruptions are 10 to 100 times weaker than those of similar stars. This suggests our planetary system is not accidental but intentionally designed for life.

References: space.com and hzdr.de

January 23, 2026January 17, 2026

Marriage and Contentment

It has been said that people need three things to be content: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. The biblical institution of marriage dates back to God’s statement in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” A study conducted by Dr. Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, has confirmed that statement. There is a strong link between marriage and contentment.

The number of people living alone is increasing quickly, and the study finds that this is a major reason for the decline in national happiness. One possible cause for this trend is that some people see marriage as linked to religious belief, yet over 40% of Americans claim no religious affiliation. Additionally, there has been a rise in the number of divorced individuals.

The survey indicates that happiness is closely tied to marriage and family. Married men between 18 and 55 report being about twice as happy as their unmarried counterparts, whereas unmarried fathers are the least happy. Married women with children report the highest happiness levels, while single mothers are the least happy. The research shows a 30-percentage-point gap in happiness levels between married and unmarried Americans. According to the study, marital status has a greater impact on happiness than income, education, race, or location. It also notes that those who cohabited before marriage have a significantly higher divorce rate. Marriage was defined as a legal contract between a man and a woman.

In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus responded to a question from the Pharisees about marriage and divorce. He said that God created humans male and female and that marriage involves the two becoming one flesh. This description is not sexual but pertains to God’s plan for contentment and happiness. The studies by Wilcox and others have confirmed the validity of God’s plan and demonstrate the connection between marriage and contentment.

Reference: “Who Is Happiest?” Institute for Family Studies

January 22, 2026January 17, 2026

Space Travel Brain Shifting

Space travel can change your brain in more ways than one. We have mentioned the “overview effect” that people experience when looking down on planet Earth from space. It can open a person’s mind to the realization that we are small and that we depend on the components for survival that God has provided on this planet. New research indicates that space travel and weightlessness can also affect your physical brain. You could call it space travel brain shifting.

Brain MRI scans of 26 astronauts and 24 non-astronauts, conducted by Rachel Seidler and others at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), revealed how microgravity affects human brain anatomy. Their research showed that the astronauts’ brains shifted backward and upward while also rotating upward. The effects could still be detected months after returning to Earth. They analyzed MRIs from 15 astronauts before and after spaceflight, and from 11 others after returning. Twenty-four other volunteers participated in a long-duration head-down tilt bed experiment.

There was a measurable change in how the astronauts’ brains fit inside their skulls depending on how long they spent in space. The maximum displacement was 2.52 millimeters. The bed rest control group did not show marked changes. The question is how the space travel brain shifting affects performance after returning to Earth. The astronauts did experience balance issues, apparently due to effects on the inner ear and sensory regions of the brain.

The bottom line is that the study showed that physical shifts in the astronauts’ brains lasted up to six months. The study is concerned about “the long-lasting effects of spaceflight on neuroanatomy.” Again, we are reminded of how much we depend on the components for survival that God has provided on this planet.

Reference: space.com

January 21, 2026January 17, 2026

Insects Use Static Electricity

One interesting fact about the insect world is that there is no common thread connecting how each insect gets its food. You might think that if all bugs had a common origin, they would show strong similarities, with some bugs being superior because they are more highly evolved. Diversity maintains balance in the insect world, preventing any one insect from dominating. Recent studies have shown that insects use static electricity in various ways.

Some parasitic nematodes, tiny worms about the size of a pinpoint, use static electricity to jump 25 times their body length to land on a flying insect. We’ve all seen insects being blown by the wind, but what most of us haven’t noticed is the role of static electricity. A little physics helps explain why static electricity can influence nematode aerial movements. Coulomb’s Law includes a constant that describes the strength of static electricity. The gravitational constant is 6.67 x 10^-11, while the Coulomb constant is 9 x 10⁹, making the static electrical force 10²⁰ times stronger than gravity.

When a flying insect flaps its wings, it generates a positive charge. The nematodes can use this charge to leap through the air and attach to the insect, where they lay their eggs. The faster the insect beats its wings, the stronger the positive charge, and the easier it is for the nematodes to attach.

Static electricity helps many insects in various ways. Bees can sense electric fields around flowers and use them to guide their foraging. Spider webs deform toward positively charged flying insects, trapping them. Ticks are attracted by the static electricity in the fur coats of animals. Researcher Sam England expects to find that electrostatic effects “play countless roles throughout the natural world.”

The complexity of Earth’s biosystem is immense and hard to explain as a product of blind chance. God’s creative genius is evident in the very large, but is especially clear when we study the very small.

Reference: “Static Launch” in the January 2026 issue of Scientific American (pages 18-19) and scientificamerican.com

January 20, 2026January 17, 2026

Newly Discovered Plant Communication Method

This isn’t a new method plants use to communicate with each other, because they have been using it for who knows how long. But for scientists, it’s a newly discovered plant communication method.

The natural world is filled with astonishing forms of communication, and plants are no exception. We have mentioned before that plants communicate underground with the aid of fungi and mycorrhizal networks in what some have called the “woods-wide-web.” They also communicate by releasing chemicals into the air. We have even seen that they communicate with insects by means of sounds. Plant communication does not involve images, spoken words, or written texts, but can still be considered communication.

Plants communicate primarily through chemical signals. When a plant experiences stress—such as an attack by herbivorous insects—it may release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air. These airborne chemicals can be detected by neighboring plants, which may then activate their own defense mechanisms preemptively. This method of plant communication has sometimes been described as “eavesdropping.”

The newly discovered plant communication method involves electrical signals passing from plant to plant when leaves touch. Ron Mittler and colleagues at the University of Missouri in Columbia experimented by growing thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana). They grew some plants in isolation and some in dense patches where the leaves touched. Then they stressed the plants by exposing them to excess light. The plants that were grouped together showed less stress damage than the ones in isolation. The researchers analyzed gene expression in isolated plants and in plants that were touching. They also monitored signals passed between the grouped pants.

According to the report, the plants with leaves touching activated over 2,000 stress-response genes that could help to protect them from excess light, cold, salinity, and wounding. The isolated plants showed greater cell damage under stressful conditions.

Understanding plant communication opens new doors for agriculture, conservation, and our appreciation of design in the natural world. Mittler hopes that this newly discovered plant communication method may be used to design mixed plant communities that are more resilient, perhaps reducing the need for chemical pesticides or fertilizers. We believe that God has given us the tools and the talent to reveal new strategies for ecosystem management and food production.

Reference: sciencenews.org

January 19, 2026January 17, 2026

The Curse of Minimalism

OK, you may not find “minimalism” in your dictionary, and Alexa didn’t like it. However, it is a problem in today’s world and an issue that Jesus Christ addressed. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5: “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, and mind.” In today’s world, that kind of statement is frowned upon by many people. We hear things like: “Do I have to go to church to be saved?” “How much do I have to give when the collection plate passes?” “Am I going to hell if I drink a beer?” etc. Questions like these show a very poor understanding of what Christianity is all about and a great ignorance of what the Bible teaches. That is what I mean by the curse of minimalism.

Minimalism can also be destructive in other areas of our lives. How many of us would think or say, “What is the least I can do to have a happy marriage?” What would be the result if a parent does the minimum required in parenting? What happens in the workplace when employees do only what’s necessary to get by? Every manager or business owner knows how harmful attitudes like that can be.

The biblical teaching is very clear about the importance of avoiding minimalism. In ancient Israel, everyone was expected to set aside one day each week for prayer, study, and worship. The Sabbath was not a day of sleep, but a day away from the demands of everyday life. Imagine the impact of a person spending one-seventh of their time in service to others. We all have 168 hours each week, and one-seventh of that is 24 hours, or nearly 4 hours each day dedicated to serving others. The remaining 20 hours could be used for work, sleep, eating, and doing things we enjoy.

Most of us don’t really know what we do with our time. Try budgeting your time for a week. Set aside time to serve God and others, and make sure you get enough sleep, eat well, work, do chores, and enjoy your hobbies. You will find great rewards in escaping the curse of minimalism and in appreciating the gift of time that God has given us.

January 16, 2026January 14, 2026

The Ignorance of Modern Churchgoers

Postmodern America is searching for answers in all the wrong places, and this is evident both in churches and in the secular world. The Family Research Council (FRC) and the Cultural Research Center (CRC) surveyed 1,000 churchgoers, adults who attend Christian church services at least once a month. The survey found that the ignorance of modern churchgoers is significant.

Only 54% of churchgoers said they believe that the Bible is the true, inspired, and error-free Word of God. Only 61% can say that they believe in the God described in the Bible. Only 51% said the Bible speaks clearly on abortion, and only 47% said it is clear on homosexuality. When asked whether they prefer capitalism or socialism, 32% of churchgoers favored socialism.

Although 30% of those surveyed claimed to have a biblical worldview, the survey shows that only 11% actually do. CRC research director George Barna remarked, “This generation of churchgoers is increasingly unsure of what they believe—or why.” The challenge for church leaders is how to modify their education programs to confront this ignorance. Currently, the tendency is either to deny the problem or to offer a simplified, outdated explanation that doesn’t meet the needs of today’s young people.

The FRC findings indicate that there is “widespread confusion about the most basic truths of the Christian faith—about who God is, what sin is, and how someone is saved.” I would add to this list confusion over WHAT God is. The ignorance of modern churchgoers is troubling, and clearing up this confusion is what this ministry is about.

References: frc.org and arizonachristian.edu